Arguments
by Mark of a Raven
Summary: Rippal oneshot. Set just after the visit to Djose Temple, during the fiend infestation. Read and review! Rated for safety.


"That arrogant, pigheaded, jerk-faced, ugly, asshole!" Rikku muttered to herself, storming through Djose Temple to Gippal's office. All the while, a voice chimed in the back of her head. _Ugly? Girl, you're crazy. He's about as far away from ugly as you can get._

"Oooh!" she whispered, annoyed at the voice. "Telling Paine and Yuna that we were a couple! We were no such thing!"

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine had just dropped by Djose Temple, to check and make sure the fiends weren't getting too out of hand. Gippal had said that he and Rikku had made quite the couple. Which annoyed her because…it just did. Rikku ignored the gunfire coming from the Chambers of the Fayth. At the moment, the Al Bhed were doing fine. They'd handle it themselves.

Rikku reached Gippal's office, and for a brief moment, lost her nerve. But his (_Incredibly handsome_, her inner voice whispered) face flashed behind her eyes. Angry again, she pushed open his door. "Alright, what's the big idea, meanie?" she snapped, emerald eyes flashing.

Gippal looked up from the machina gun he was fixing. "Huh?" he said, temporarily caught off guard.

"Coming around, acting all big-shot, saying we were a couple!" Rikku stalked over to his desk and stood directly in front of him.

_Does she have to be so goddamn hot? And would it be such a bad thing to be a couple?_ Gippal pushed away those thoughts. "Hey, it was a joke. Cid's girl needs to lighten up a bit."

He was adding fuel to the fire, he knew, when he said her hated nickname. He watched her swirled eyes flash as she tossed her long, blond, soft, gorgeous_…Focus, boy,_ Gippal thought. It was hair. But Rikku tossed it with great effect and hissed, "I have a name, you know. Rikku. It's very easy to say, even for someone with brain's as small as yours."

A smirk drew across his lips. Lips that Rikku was desperately trying not to kiss right now. All her anger was gone. Now she was acting angry because she'd seem like all those pathetic women hanging off his arm, if she lost her nerve when he smiled at her. Which was happening, as the smirk had turned into a full-blown grin. _Oh, cred,_ she thought, as he stepped out from behind his desk. "You weren't this touchy when we were kids," he noted.

"Things change," she said angrily. "People grow up. Or run away without telling their friends, leaving them to worry and never even _writing._"

_Ouch,_ Gippal thought, wincing at the not-so-subtle insinuation. "Rikku…"

Rikku had gotten angry again. "Don't _Rikku_ me. I like my name, but it's not getting you off the hook." She felt a lump in her throat, but she forced herself to continue. "Why did you do that? We were friends. Damn good friends, too. Then you just run off without a word, to join that damn _Crimson Squad_ and don't even right to tell me that you're alive." She felt tears forming at the corner of her eyes. _Do. Not. Cry. Do. Not. Cry. _"Do you have any idea how many nights I spent, terrified that you were dead, killed by Sin or some damn Yevonite?"

Now she knew why she was so pissed. Because that small offense had triggered every bit of anger in her that she had at him, including long past deeds.

Gippal stared at her. She…she had worried about him? With his parents dead, he hadn't thought anyone would care. But he should have known better. He'd known Rikku was his friends, and friends worry about each other. He moved away from where his hip had been leaning on his desk. _Holy cred, you made her cry. Nice going,_ _yccruma . _Sure enough, shining tears slipped from the emerald swirled eyes. She brushed them away furiously, but she couldn't hide them. "Rikku…please don't cry."

_Well, hell_. "Don't you dare tell me not to cry, when I spent so long searching for you. After Sin got killed, I looked for you." More tears spilled, and her words were scratchy, but she kept talking. "I looked for you, and told people to tell you that I was looking for you. And don't you dare tell me you didn't get those messages because I know damn well you got the one Rin gave you." Rikku glared at him, silencing his attempt to deny it.

It was true. But Gippal hadn't wanted to be found. Nooj had just shot them, he'd just recovered. But not from the betrayal. Rikku knew him too well, she would have known something was amiss. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him, he wanted her to be proud of him. So he'd went and formed the Machine Faction.

He blinked, focusing as she kept talking. "I looked and looked…and then I found out you were heading a group called the Machine Faction." Rikku had begun to shake, her words were now barely discernable through her tears. "That hurt, Gippal. First you run away, then you ignore any attempts of contact…" She broke down completely, leaning against the palms of her hands which were flat on his desk. "Why, Gippal? Why?" Her sobs wracked her thin frame.

Gippal stared at her. He hated to see her cry, hated even more being the reason she was crying. He stepped closer to her tentatively. He took a rag that was slightly grease-stained, but knew she wouldn't care. He handed it to her, and she took it, wiping her face. "Because…in the Crimson Squad, things happened. I got…hurt. In more ways then one. You knew me too well. I didn't want you to see that, I didn't want you to pity me. I wanted you to be proud of me…" He looked away.

Rikku whirled on him, grabbing the straps that held his shoulder armor to his trousers roughly. The look on her face was unreadable. "You idiot! I was proud of you!"

Gippal, again, was struck speechless. "You…what?" 

The tears had slowed, a relief, but he wasn't sure he liked being practically shaken by a girl who was half his size. It wasn't good for his manhood. "You sapskulled domnoddy!" Well, he'd never heard that one before. And he'd gotten a lot of strange insults from Rikku. "I was proud of you! You had grown up! All my life, you were an immature playboy! But just before you left, you grew up! Yeah, you were still funny and at times, stupid." Only Rikku could make that sound like a compliment. "But you knew how to be serious! You were strong, and you protected people. Then you up and ran away. But I was proud of you, simple because you were you!" She shook him again, roughly. "You don't have to do things to make me proud!"

_He is so incredibly handsome, _Rikku thought. She stared up at his face, as a small piece of hair fell from his spiky hairdo into his face. It touched his eye patch, which he hadn't had before he left. Something had happened in the Crimson Squad. She reached up and touched the fabric. She felt him stiffen. From the look on his face, she knew he was expecting a question that he didn't like the answer to. She simply smiled and pushed the lock of hair out of his face. Suddenly conscious of how close they were, but not exactly wanting to move, she looked down. How had she gone from furious, to complacent, in a matter of minutes?

Gippal stared down at her. _She's…beautiful._ And coming from him, that meant something. A girl was "sexy" or "hot." Never beautiful. But Rikku…Rikku was different from all the girls he'd been with. And she didn't asking probing questions. At least, right now she wasn't. He knew she wondered where the eye-patch had come from. And suddenly, he wanted to tell her. "It was during a fight…in the Squad."

Rikku looked up briefly. "You don't have to tell me."

"I want to," he whispered. "I'd just signed up. I…I can't hide the fact that I'm Al Bhed. But I didn't think they'd care. They let me join. But one man…he hated the Al Bhed. I didn't know why." Gippal watched her face. He saw anger contort it. He was very conscious of her hand on his chest. It was shaking. "He…attacked me. One day. He just jumped me. I was doing good…but he pulled a knife. He cut my face. This patch, the straps, they cover the entire scar. It takes me forever to arrange it and make sure it won't slip. I got the scar while we were still doing individual training, before I got put in a team."

Rikku stared up at him. "Because you're an Al Bhed, he stabbed you?"

Gippal looked away. "Yes. But…"

She knew he felt guilty. She frowned slightly, trying to figure out why. Then her expression cleared. "You killed him, didn't you?"

Gippal pulled away. "I didn't mean to. But I was hurt, and he'd made me angry…I went nuts. I pulled out the gun they gave me and shot him, Yevon-knows how many times. And the captain…he just smiled. Said I could defend myself, that it was a good thing." He shuddered. "Like it didn't even matter that I'd just killed someone. It was so…cold."

"You're not a murderer."

The finality, the surety of her voice startled him. "How can you say that? I just told you…I killed someone, Rikku!"

"And you didn't like it. You killed because you were angry. So have I. I helped kill Seymour Guado because he used Yunie. But if you'd enjoyed it, then I would be afraid." Rikku stepped over to him, reached up and touched his cheek gently. "But you didn't. And that's what matters."

Gippal looked down at her with an expression Rikku couldn't read. He was shocked, that much was obvious. And grateful. But something burned in that green gaze that held her paralyzed. For a moment, she dared to think that maybe he felt something for her. But he couldn't…they'd been friends for so long. Who could think that they'd be more?

Until he leaned in, framed her face with his hands, and took her lips with his. She gasped and backed up slightly, into the desk, but Gippal wouldn't let her go. He followed her and pressed himself to her, and Rikku stopped trying to get away and kissed him right back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. And she knew she wasn't dreaming because she couldn't dream things like how he smelled of grease and spices, how gentle he seemed, yet as his arms wrapped around her waist, she felt his strength. And even when she'd fantasized about maybe, just maybe, he'd ask her to be his girl, she'd never even come close to realizing how phenomenal of a kisser he was.

But even she knew that making out, and to say the least, that is definitely what they were doing, wasn't a good idea, especially in the middle of the day when someone could walk in. Nope. Rikku could save that for later. So, after a moment…or two…or three…she pulled back and stared up at him. "I, uh…" He smirked, and she found that just annoying enough to force her mouth to work. "I think I need to get going now."

Gippal looked at her for a moment, trapped between him and the desk. Well, she wasn't complaining. He'd venture to say she enjoyed it. So, and doing it was a struggle, he untangled his arms from around her. She slowly dropped her arms from his neck. She smiled slightly, seeing his hair even messier then usual at the back of his neck where she'd run her fingers through it. "So, uh," she stammered, unable to think straight. "I think I should, um, go now. B-bye, Gippal."

He waited until her fingers were slowly wrapped around the doorknob. "Hey, Cid's girl?"

Rikku looked back at him, and she saw amused annoyance on her face. "Yeah?"

"Think I can take you to Luca sometime?" There. He'd asked it. After the many times they were younger, trying to force himself to ask her, he'd finally done it. When he was nineteen. _Took you long enough. You've only been trying since you were sixteen._

He watched with delight as a slightly coy smile drew across her lips. "Do I get to play with your machine afterwards?"

Gippal laughed. "Of course."

"Then I guess so." With that, Rikku sauntered out.

Gippal grinned, watching the door close.

_Good old Rikku._


End file.
